We are up a car again....after looking at hundreds of listings, praying, and making lots of calls and emails, we finally made a purchase to replace the vehicle that is near death. We actually have one more purchase to make after that to replace my husband's truck, but for now, we have at least two working vehicles, including my daughter's. Of course, I hoped for a free one, but that didn't happen. However, we did get a fantastic price on the car we did buy and it's probably the nicest car I've had in our whole marriage. Get this, all the windows work and ALL the doors open! See what I mean? That is exciting stuff!!! My kids will have funny stories about our cars. It seems as soon as we buy one certain things start going, like clockwork...first the a/c, then the windows, then the doors, not to mention the engine! But we're grateful at how long our last vehicle took us. We hope to sell it as-is and to my shock and awe we're already getting offers. Incredible that someone will purchase it in such rough shape!
My new funny farm story of the week happened yesterday. All I know is that I am happy to have my fingers still, though I might add that I am typing with one less digit. It is still on my hand, but it is very tender. It starts with another story. I had made two big roasts on the weekend to celebrate a birthday of our "other family" whose daughter turned 17. I had made enough to have for leftovers the next day. However, my dog had other plans for the leftovers. Silly me left it out at lunch without the lid on. I went upstairs and came down a few minutes later to see it all gone, every last drop. I was so sad to say the last. It also ruined my dinner plans! I had to come up with plan B.
I had made a meal plan and had shopped for it, I'm happy to say, but I just hadn't pre-made it. I was going to make split-pea soup. I looked in all my bulk containers and couldn't find where I had put the peas! As I went from one cupboard to another I set off a trap on purpose so it wouldn't get me while I looked. No big deal. Then I went to another cupboard. I did not see the trap there until I set it off. I felt no pain until I looked down and saw the blood blister forming on my finger. Then the pain hit. This was no little mouse trap. It was a big trap. I held my hand under running water and downed two Tylenol asap. My kids knew something bad had just happened to mommy. Fortunately it only got the top inch of my middle finger (you never know how often you use that finger until it is immobilized!) My finger nail has the tell-tale signs of being whacked. After sitting on the couch for probably 2 hours, the throbbing had simmered down. I had texted my husband to let him know and within an hour he was home. He knew it wasn't just about the pain with my finger. I was so glad when he drove in. What a guy.
It really is hard to explain to someone else why living on a farm is the greatest thing and the hardest thing we've ever done. To an outsider, it is idyllic with the beautiful views, the country air, chickens walking around, clothes on the line, the nearest neighbour is not near, gardens, etc., but there is another side, a very hard side. Country living is not for the faint of heart, I've written many times. I truly did marry Renaissance Man. He can literally do everything. We could not live here if it weren't for his skill set. But it does get tiresome even for someone who can do it all. There isn't an endless amount of money to do all the work required and there is never enough time, especially now that he is at work full-time with a part-time job on the side and other contracts here and there, oh and farming, 8 kids, a needy wife, etc. Plus, because we are living in everything old, it is literally undoing itself before we can get to it.
Thankfully, others have gone before and understand. My friend sent me a book written by a woman who homeschooled her 9 children and lived on a farm. She put it perfectly, "It didn't take long for us to realize we were living in too many centuries. Tim went to work in the twentieth century, keeping long hours. He came home to the eighteenth century......" That's kind of us. As I was reading this late last night, I couldn't believe how similar our stories were.
When you have a farm with actual animals on it, you get rodents. So then you get cats to take care of the rodents, but then you have too many cats! It's always something... She wrote in the book, "As it turned out, rats were my limit. I could not love my family if I lived in a house with rats. The rats were like demons stealing my sanity away." (or in my case, my fingers) One day she found something in the pantry that was "gross and white and squiggly and it was the end for me." She walked out the back door to the apple orchard and laid down under the apple tree and cried. "I was never going to make it in the eighteenth century." Long story short, they put the farm up for sale and sold it to a man who needed a place to hoard his stuff. "I love that man so much," she wrote. I couldn't believe how I was reading this very chapter on the very day that my finger had nearly been taken out because of rodents we are fighting in our eighteenth century home. That afternoon, I, too had sat fighting back tears while my little 5 year old sat beside me trying to do his letters and numbers as good as he could so I wouldn't be sad. He didn't know all the reasons my face was wet. Pain from a stupid trap, pain from fighting an old home.....
I don't think we're at the "sell the farm" place yet. We love it too much. We've worked too hard to rebuild the ruins. I think, however, it was good to read that what we are doing IS hard. Rewarding? Yes, but hard. I needed to acknowledge the fact that having my finger nearly taken off in a trap because of a war with rodents isn't easy. When I read that other woman's war was so similar to mine it actually comforted me.
So what is the takeaway? Give up? We aren't going to give up. We heard it best a few weeks ago in church, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4
That was the point in the other woman's book, too. Children sanctify us. Old homes sanctify us. God even uses rodent traps to sanctify us. What comes out of us isn't always pretty, but He can change us if we let Him use even things like our finger stuck in a trap!
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Monday, 22 January 2018
Once-a-Week (not month) Cooking...
I had dreaded this past weekend. I knew how much RM had to do and I knew how little time a weekend holds. My friend and I met and prayed knowing that my new phrase in life for some time has been, "No fear, no panic, no dread." I didn't want to dread. That would ruin my whole weekend and I live for weekends! RM ended up having a fairly productive weekend and though he didn't accomplish all things on his list, he did check off a lot which always makes me happy when he is happy. We were also able to get out a few times just on our own which is what I miss now that he is at work all day.
That phrase I came across in Scripture about fear, panic, and dread has been a lifesaver. I am able to take my thoughts captive now that I know my "go-to" is typically not to be calm, but to instead go to the worst case scenario. I'll give an example.
One of the things on the list this weekend was find my son's old school work, scan it, and send it in to the on-line program we've signed him up for. Sounds easy enough, except this was two year old school work that I had no recall of ever seeing. I have moved stuff around so much since we started renovating and truly didn't know where it could be. When this happens I just assume I threw it out and want to stop looking, but in this case, that wasn't an option. I felt the panic creeping it. I felt the fear, "What if I don't find it? What will we do?! How will he be accepted into the course? Why wasn't I more careful?" As soon as I felt those old feelings, I immediately stopped and prayed, "Help me to find it, Lord. You know where it is." Then I spoke to myself and said, "Stay calm. Even if you don't find it, there are other things you can do. No need to panic. Relax." Truly, I was literally taking each new thought and making it be captive. They weren't allowed to control me.
After I had gone through all the old spots of school work, no sign. I was still walking around calmly, but the thoughts were trying to take over. I wouldn't let them. Suddenly I thought of one last place. I went to a crate in the kitchen where I've gone before and sure enough, there it was. I cannot tell you the relief! It meant a lot less work for all of us since I found it. It would have been a real challenge to recreate two years of work. I thanked God for His help and how His Word truly directs my life.
I did have to go to the grocery store again, but was able to keep the bill down quite a bit by using my meal plan again as well as half price vegetables and no meat because we have our own beef. Then I came home and do not ask me what came over me, but suddenly I had this thought, "Why not cook all the meals now for the rest of the week?" The reason that is funny is because it is very classic of me to be such a "winging it" kind of person. Organized people would have shopped with that in mind and had a whole plan for the day and would have done a whole month of cooking and would have known they were doing that amount of cooking all month, let alone, all day! But, for me, I just came home from the grocery store and decided, "How 'bout now?" It was a perfect start for me. Instead of a whole month, I would try a week.
So I pulled out all the pots and started cooking. I was in the kitchen over two hours. Some kids helped, some didn't, but I did have them all clean up at the end as my feet were killing me! I made chili, quiche (including the pie crust), cooked vegetables, pizza dough, and a few other things on the side. I threw all the cooked meals in the freezer and now they are ready for the rest of the week. What will I do with my time now that they are all done?! I think it will be great. My daughter wants to sew and now I will have that window of time that I am normally cooking and I'll be able to sew instead. It'll be so great!
Even on Sunday afternoon, to know I had made dinner ahead of time was so nice to wake up and not have to run around before church and try to whip it all together. We ended up having a wonderful meal and I was able to enjoy it, too. So this coming Saturday I may just try it again, but maybe, just maybe I'll cook for a few more days or even another week and slowly work my way into the once a month cooking idea. I've read about it so many times, but just could never get my head around it. I may just become a believer yet. I did notice my kitchen is not suited for it though, at least not my stove. It only has two burners that are big enough for my pots. The other ones are just for show. They work, but don't have the room I need for 4 pots going. There's a business idea. Design kitchens for large families that do once-a-month cooking. Hmmmmm.....
If I make this last grocery shop stretch, then I've saved several hundred dollars this month. Mostly because I was quite strict on not buying a lot of meat and using our own exclusively. I also bought the half price vegetables and fruit. I didn't buy extras at all as I followed the plan I had made. I didn't buy a lot of processed food, though I did get a few pizzas and chicken fingers, but made sure they were all on sale. Everything else that I bought was also usually on sale or a no-name version so they are usually quite a bit cheaper, too. I don't know if those are all the reasons, but I do know I had budgeted a lot more and seem to be staying well below the amount, so I'm happy about that. If I make it to the end of the month without going again to the store, that'll be amazing. I will probably have to get eggs and milk again, possibly bread, but the sales on bread lately have been so amazing, it almost seems free.
Trusting the Lord for week ahead......
That phrase I came across in Scripture about fear, panic, and dread has been a lifesaver. I am able to take my thoughts captive now that I know my "go-to" is typically not to be calm, but to instead go to the worst case scenario. I'll give an example.
One of the things on the list this weekend was find my son's old school work, scan it, and send it in to the on-line program we've signed him up for. Sounds easy enough, except this was two year old school work that I had no recall of ever seeing. I have moved stuff around so much since we started renovating and truly didn't know where it could be. When this happens I just assume I threw it out and want to stop looking, but in this case, that wasn't an option. I felt the panic creeping it. I felt the fear, "What if I don't find it? What will we do?! How will he be accepted into the course? Why wasn't I more careful?" As soon as I felt those old feelings, I immediately stopped and prayed, "Help me to find it, Lord. You know where it is." Then I spoke to myself and said, "Stay calm. Even if you don't find it, there are other things you can do. No need to panic. Relax." Truly, I was literally taking each new thought and making it be captive. They weren't allowed to control me.
After I had gone through all the old spots of school work, no sign. I was still walking around calmly, but the thoughts were trying to take over. I wouldn't let them. Suddenly I thought of one last place. I went to a crate in the kitchen where I've gone before and sure enough, there it was. I cannot tell you the relief! It meant a lot less work for all of us since I found it. It would have been a real challenge to recreate two years of work. I thanked God for His help and how His Word truly directs my life.
I did have to go to the grocery store again, but was able to keep the bill down quite a bit by using my meal plan again as well as half price vegetables and no meat because we have our own beef. Then I came home and do not ask me what came over me, but suddenly I had this thought, "Why not cook all the meals now for the rest of the week?" The reason that is funny is because it is very classic of me to be such a "winging it" kind of person. Organized people would have shopped with that in mind and had a whole plan for the day and would have done a whole month of cooking and would have known they were doing that amount of cooking all month, let alone, all day! But, for me, I just came home from the grocery store and decided, "How 'bout now?" It was a perfect start for me. Instead of a whole month, I would try a week.
So I pulled out all the pots and started cooking. I was in the kitchen over two hours. Some kids helped, some didn't, but I did have them all clean up at the end as my feet were killing me! I made chili, quiche (including the pie crust), cooked vegetables, pizza dough, and a few other things on the side. I threw all the cooked meals in the freezer and now they are ready for the rest of the week. What will I do with my time now that they are all done?! I think it will be great. My daughter wants to sew and now I will have that window of time that I am normally cooking and I'll be able to sew instead. It'll be so great!
Even on Sunday afternoon, to know I had made dinner ahead of time was so nice to wake up and not have to run around before church and try to whip it all together. We ended up having a wonderful meal and I was able to enjoy it, too. So this coming Saturday I may just try it again, but maybe, just maybe I'll cook for a few more days or even another week and slowly work my way into the once a month cooking idea. I've read about it so many times, but just could never get my head around it. I may just become a believer yet. I did notice my kitchen is not suited for it though, at least not my stove. It only has two burners that are big enough for my pots. The other ones are just for show. They work, but don't have the room I need for 4 pots going. There's a business idea. Design kitchens for large families that do once-a-month cooking. Hmmmmm.....
If I make this last grocery shop stretch, then I've saved several hundred dollars this month. Mostly because I was quite strict on not buying a lot of meat and using our own exclusively. I also bought the half price vegetables and fruit. I didn't buy extras at all as I followed the plan I had made. I didn't buy a lot of processed food, though I did get a few pizzas and chicken fingers, but made sure they were all on sale. Everything else that I bought was also usually on sale or a no-name version so they are usually quite a bit cheaper, too. I don't know if those are all the reasons, but I do know I had budgeted a lot more and seem to be staying well below the amount, so I'm happy about that. If I make it to the end of the month without going again to the store, that'll be amazing. I will probably have to get eggs and milk again, possibly bread, but the sales on bread lately have been so amazing, it almost seems free.
Trusting the Lord for week ahead......
Thursday, 18 January 2018
The Steeplechase Race Called Life
I talked about running the race this week based on Hebrews 12 to the homeschool moms. The guest speaker at church had described it as more of a steeplechase, not your average race. In a regular race you just go round and round, but in a steeplechase you go around, jump over hurdles, land in water and then another racer usually lands on your head right after that. That is more like real life, he said. So true!!! Trials don't just come in ones, they come in multiples.
We've had a week like that, I'd have to say. Nothing too major, but a whole lot of minors. We had a huge rain storm this past week. I was sitting in our newly insulated and drywalled family room, when suddenly I heard a dripping. Somewhere a leak had started that had water slowly coming into the house, drip by drip, down the new walls. Now it is frozen, but we don't know if damage was created. A little discouraging. Only Spring will tell.
Then, more humourous than anything, our front door handle just fell off! How does that happen?! No problem, we just stuck in back on temporarily, but it's like my husband keeps saying, "Our house is falling apart faster than I can fix it?!" So that makes him feel bad.
This one is my fault...In the name of being "fun mom", I, perhaps stupidly, let my young kids wear roller blades in the house. Ok, not a smart move. But our floors were being ripped up, so, to me, it didn't matter if the old laminate flooring got ruined. What I didn't anticipate was them going back and forth over the tile at the front door, back into the kitchen, over and over again. You guessed it, the tiles are now all cracked and breaking up along the edge of the entrance to the kitchen. Can't believe it. I quickly put an end to the "fun mom" and became the "fun police". Another thing that can be fixed, but is more work for you-know-who. Bad mom, bad mom.....
The next trial is also humourous, but is also DISGUSTING. Our dumb cats decided in the last two weeks to make our bathroom their bathroom. But they don't use the toilet, they go near the toilet, or worse, in the towel cupboard! (Did I mention that cupboard door fell off? Argh!!!!) I walk around in shock that I have to clean up cat poo and cat pee in MY BATHROOM!!! Needless to say, we locked them in the basement with food, water and their litter box to remind them, no, they aren't humans, they are cats. Oh my goodness....I am usually fond of cats, but this week, hate 'em.
Hopefully, you are laughing by now....I am. As I write all of this, it just seems so hilarious!
Somewhere in the middle of this, our truck died. No small fix either. The fix is not only time intensive (which RM doesn't have), but costly.
Oh, and then, our other car died. Uh oh. All the lights went on the fritz on the dashboard and it started to not run normally. Somehow, at work, RM managed to take off the dash board on his lunch break (nice lunch break!), re-solder some of the connections making the lights all work again, but it isn't sounding good. We are now looking for new (er) vehicles again. Fortunately, we just had our daughter's car fixed, so we are using that to get us around. Funny how she isn't too happy about that, even though we gave her use of our vehicles for 4 years....hmmmmmm.....
So we had our classic emergency car prayer meeting when I got the call from RM about barely making it to work. I called the kids and we sat around in a circle and I reminded them of the sermon we had all heard that Sunday about trials. We then prayed, thanking God for the trials, trying to "consider it all joy" as James says. We prayed for a miracle, again. (How often do we pray for that?)
I, then, literally, got up and said, "I'm jumping in the shower. Start school." And walked away. Two minutes (or less) later, our neighbour came to our door with a cheque. We rent some of our property out to him, but we never see him and last year was such a bad year he lost money and so we didn't even get a cent from him. I can say that I haven't seen him in years. But that day, at that moment, after having prayed seconds before, there he was, with money, unexpected money. He could have come a week ago or in a month, but no, he came at that exact moment in time. All while I was in the shower. I didn't even know he had come. I got out of the shower and looked on the counter and there was this cheque. "Where did that come from? When?" I couldn't believe it. I had to take a picture to show my husband and then messaged him so he could see it for himself. What an encouragement once again to our kids, to us, that God hears our prayers. Was it enough to buy a car? No, it didn't have to be. It just was the classic tangible reminder that He knows our needs. He hears our prayers. He cares for us. I can be truly honest that I walked around all day without fear, but anticipation. What will happen? How will God work? Our kids were amazed. I love it when they see God work so quickly.
Have our trials gone away? No, according to the pastor on Sunday, until we reach the finish line, i.e. death (!), they never will. So why wish them away? Even if these ones get resolved, which they eventually will, a new one will pop up. We can't be surprised by that fact, nor can we be discouraged. That's just a fact of the steeplechase race we are in. The writer of Hebrews reminded us, that only by fixing our eyes on Jesus will we get through these ups and downs. And so we do....suddenly life becomes manageable, not overwhelming.
We've had a week like that, I'd have to say. Nothing too major, but a whole lot of minors. We had a huge rain storm this past week. I was sitting in our newly insulated and drywalled family room, when suddenly I heard a dripping. Somewhere a leak had started that had water slowly coming into the house, drip by drip, down the new walls. Now it is frozen, but we don't know if damage was created. A little discouraging. Only Spring will tell.
Then, more humourous than anything, our front door handle just fell off! How does that happen?! No problem, we just stuck in back on temporarily, but it's like my husband keeps saying, "Our house is falling apart faster than I can fix it?!" So that makes him feel bad.
This one is my fault...In the name of being "fun mom", I, perhaps stupidly, let my young kids wear roller blades in the house. Ok, not a smart move. But our floors were being ripped up, so, to me, it didn't matter if the old laminate flooring got ruined. What I didn't anticipate was them going back and forth over the tile at the front door, back into the kitchen, over and over again. You guessed it, the tiles are now all cracked and breaking up along the edge of the entrance to the kitchen. Can't believe it. I quickly put an end to the "fun mom" and became the "fun police". Another thing that can be fixed, but is more work for you-know-who. Bad mom, bad mom.....
The next trial is also humourous, but is also DISGUSTING. Our dumb cats decided in the last two weeks to make our bathroom their bathroom. But they don't use the toilet, they go near the toilet, or worse, in the towel cupboard! (Did I mention that cupboard door fell off? Argh!!!!) I walk around in shock that I have to clean up cat poo and cat pee in MY BATHROOM!!! Needless to say, we locked them in the basement with food, water and their litter box to remind them, no, they aren't humans, they are cats. Oh my goodness....I am usually fond of cats, but this week, hate 'em.
Hopefully, you are laughing by now....I am. As I write all of this, it just seems so hilarious!
Somewhere in the middle of this, our truck died. No small fix either. The fix is not only time intensive (which RM doesn't have), but costly.
Oh, and then, our other car died. Uh oh. All the lights went on the fritz on the dashboard and it started to not run normally. Somehow, at work, RM managed to take off the dash board on his lunch break (nice lunch break!), re-solder some of the connections making the lights all work again, but it isn't sounding good. We are now looking for new (er) vehicles again. Fortunately, we just had our daughter's car fixed, so we are using that to get us around. Funny how she isn't too happy about that, even though we gave her use of our vehicles for 4 years....hmmmmmm.....
So we had our classic emergency car prayer meeting when I got the call from RM about barely making it to work. I called the kids and we sat around in a circle and I reminded them of the sermon we had all heard that Sunday about trials. We then prayed, thanking God for the trials, trying to "consider it all joy" as James says. We prayed for a miracle, again. (How often do we pray for that?)
I, then, literally, got up and said, "I'm jumping in the shower. Start school." And walked away. Two minutes (or less) later, our neighbour came to our door with a cheque. We rent some of our property out to him, but we never see him and last year was such a bad year he lost money and so we didn't even get a cent from him. I can say that I haven't seen him in years. But that day, at that moment, after having prayed seconds before, there he was, with money, unexpected money. He could have come a week ago or in a month, but no, he came at that exact moment in time. All while I was in the shower. I didn't even know he had come. I got out of the shower and looked on the counter and there was this cheque. "Where did that come from? When?" I couldn't believe it. I had to take a picture to show my husband and then messaged him so he could see it for himself. What an encouragement once again to our kids, to us, that God hears our prayers. Was it enough to buy a car? No, it didn't have to be. It just was the classic tangible reminder that He knows our needs. He hears our prayers. He cares for us. I can be truly honest that I walked around all day without fear, but anticipation. What will happen? How will God work? Our kids were amazed. I love it when they see God work so quickly.
Have our trials gone away? No, according to the pastor on Sunday, until we reach the finish line, i.e. death (!), they never will. So why wish them away? Even if these ones get resolved, which they eventually will, a new one will pop up. We can't be surprised by that fact, nor can we be discouraged. That's just a fact of the steeplechase race we are in. The writer of Hebrews reminded us, that only by fixing our eyes on Jesus will we get through these ups and downs. And so we do....suddenly life becomes manageable, not overwhelming.
Wednesday, 17 January 2018
Sad Lessons from History.....My Rant.....
Quick recap on the grocery goals - I'm on week 3 of the meal plan. I did go to the grocery store in that time frame to restock on milk and eggs. I also did a "Quiz Meet" shop that I had forgotten about where I bought snack items, but all were on sale, so I felt good about that and it meant we didn't go out for lunch which we typically do if I don't plan ahead. I can get by this week as well if we stick to the meals I planned.
We went to one store to pick up dog food and saw the price was more than half off. We sent out one of our kids and went back for a year's supply! That'll save us tons of money as dog food is super expensive.
So yes, this past weekend was a quiz meet and the kids, once again, amazed us. One of our junior teams took top place. It still amazes me to think that even if the kids don't place in the top, they have memorized almost the entire book of 1 Corinthians since September. Incredible. To see so many kids with God's Word hidden in their heart is so exciting as they don't even know the impact it is going to have on their lives until they are much older.
As for homeschooling, we recently started a book about Canadian History written in a story style. As usual, I don't know who learns more, me or the kids. I know that government is important, ordained by God and that nothing is a surprise to God, but this Fall, I've also seen how fallen the government is and how much I need to keep my children close to me. The theme that keeps jumping out at us over the last few months has been the negative, unnecessary, self-serving intervention the government played in people's lives over and over again where years later, the Canadian government had to go back and say, "Sorry." A few examples....
Residential schools. I won't go into long history lessons, but suffice it to say, the church may have had good intentions to possibly even evangelize the First Nations families, but by taking away their children from their mommies? Nothing will ever make me say that was a good idea. It is the saddest thing to hear the damage that was done to these people who will forever be scarred, for so many reasons, but mainly because the government thought they could do a better job of raising their children. A crime.
The Dionne Quintuplets. This has to be the saddest story in all of Canadian history. My kids thought I was making it up, I'm sure. We had to go on YouTube to prove it. These 5 identical girls were born in 1923 to a mom who already had 5 children. They were an immediate international sensation, and that's WITHOUT the internet. The government had a hospital built across the road from where they were born near North Bay, Ontario. This ended up being where they spent most of their early years - away from their parents. That's right. They were taken from their parents by the government in case the PARENTS (how ironic) tried to exploit them for money. Instead, what ended up happening was the girls were exploited by the government and the girls' doctor for what they think was a half a billion dollars. HALF A BILLION. The girls were put on display and were treated like a freak show. School buses from Toronto and all over would come with loads of children and their parents and park in the 100 car parking lot and then go see them behind the one-way glass in the girls' "natural environment". After observing them, the visitors would go to the souvenir shop that was run by the parents! The parents, though somewhat in on the whole thing, were discouraged to see their own children, so they were essentially raised by the doctor and some nurses. It wasn't until they were older that they realized, of course, their childhood had been taken away from them. It wasn't until the women were well into their 70s that they received a "sorry" and some money from the government in compensation for their treatment. I told the kids, "Ok, maybe you don't love school and doing work, but at least you are with me and not in some circus freak show because we are a family with 8 kids!" (although sometimes we are treated that way!) Such a sad story for those girls. They never had friends and they never knew about the outside world. Apparently, later on the girls' parents did try to get custody, but the damage was done.
One final example - the Japanese Internment Camps. After the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, all Japanese people were treated like they had done the attack themselves, including those living in British Columbia. Of course, they hadn't, but it didn't matter. In the name of safety, the Canadian government packed them all up, took away all their property and businesses, and sent them away to internment camps. They lost everything. How was that a good idea? At least this time they didn't take just the kids. As usual, it was years and years later they said, "Oh, sorry. We shouldn't have done that." How do you ever recover from that?
My kids are in absolute shock and awe when I read these stories to them. I'm not trying to teach them that the government is bad. I'm teaching them that they often have an agenda and it isn't often a good one. Not to mention, it seemed like all the Canadian public was good with what went on, too....
Just in case my kids think that doesn't happen anymore....no, it still does. How about a current example...my dentist, for one. Last week I shared story after story of how God had done these miracles in my life, about piano teachers and groceries. I forgot to share how He had also answered a prayer about our dentist! I had asked God to show me who we should have as our new dentist after moving out this way. Seems like a strange prayer, maybe, but I wanted to make sure we were going to one who understood the dental needs and costs of a large family. I interviewed a number of people. Then, one day, at a local fair, I ran into our current dentist. He had a booth up across from where I had a booth selling crafts. I went over and chatted with him. I was pretty convinced he was our guy almost right away. When I told him I basically wanted free care, he laughed and said, "For large families I give a good discount." What? I had never heard that before. He was hired!
As we got to know him it turns out he was a believer! A solid Christian man. I also found out he was a daring believer. He had his kids in the public school system, but he wasn't loving the agenda the government had for them. He decided to take on the school board and, without getting into details for his sake, got into a legal battle in the name of his kids and his parental rights. Was I ever impressed with his nerve and his awareness that as the parent he wanted to be the one as the primary influence. The government said, "No, you're not. We want to be." He lost his battle. Now, he's in a quandary as to what to do. It just goes to show you, government thinks they know better than us as parents and if they have to intervene to prove it, they will. I never take the privilege of homeschooling lightly. I'm the primary influence right now and they don't like that.
I don't write about politics. I try to avoid it, but this week when we had finished studying all these topics, I couldn't help it. Over and over I saw the theme come up where the government had intervened to the detriment of the family. It has made me be grateful for the privilege I have to homeschool, but also how careful we have to be to protect what seems to be to be obvious....the right to be the primary influence over my children, not the government. Am I going to be one of those homeschoolers people accuse of being in a "holy huddle"? No, I don't believe in that. However, as the Maxwells put it in their book, Keeping Your Children's Hearts, I will insulate them, not to be confused with isolating them, in the name of protecting their hearts as long as I can.
We went to one store to pick up dog food and saw the price was more than half off. We sent out one of our kids and went back for a year's supply! That'll save us tons of money as dog food is super expensive.
So yes, this past weekend was a quiz meet and the kids, once again, amazed us. One of our junior teams took top place. It still amazes me to think that even if the kids don't place in the top, they have memorized almost the entire book of 1 Corinthians since September. Incredible. To see so many kids with God's Word hidden in their heart is so exciting as they don't even know the impact it is going to have on their lives until they are much older.
As for homeschooling, we recently started a book about Canadian History written in a story style. As usual, I don't know who learns more, me or the kids. I know that government is important, ordained by God and that nothing is a surprise to God, but this Fall, I've also seen how fallen the government is and how much I need to keep my children close to me. The theme that keeps jumping out at us over the last few months has been the negative, unnecessary, self-serving intervention the government played in people's lives over and over again where years later, the Canadian government had to go back and say, "Sorry." A few examples....
Residential schools. I won't go into long history lessons, but suffice it to say, the church may have had good intentions to possibly even evangelize the First Nations families, but by taking away their children from their mommies? Nothing will ever make me say that was a good idea. It is the saddest thing to hear the damage that was done to these people who will forever be scarred, for so many reasons, but mainly because the government thought they could do a better job of raising their children. A crime.
The Dionne Quintuplets. This has to be the saddest story in all of Canadian history. My kids thought I was making it up, I'm sure. We had to go on YouTube to prove it. These 5 identical girls were born in 1923 to a mom who already had 5 children. They were an immediate international sensation, and that's WITHOUT the internet. The government had a hospital built across the road from where they were born near North Bay, Ontario. This ended up being where they spent most of their early years - away from their parents. That's right. They were taken from their parents by the government in case the PARENTS (how ironic) tried to exploit them for money. Instead, what ended up happening was the girls were exploited by the government and the girls' doctor for what they think was a half a billion dollars. HALF A BILLION. The girls were put on display and were treated like a freak show. School buses from Toronto and all over would come with loads of children and their parents and park in the 100 car parking lot and then go see them behind the one-way glass in the girls' "natural environment". After observing them, the visitors would go to the souvenir shop that was run by the parents! The parents, though somewhat in on the whole thing, were discouraged to see their own children, so they were essentially raised by the doctor and some nurses. It wasn't until they were older that they realized, of course, their childhood had been taken away from them. It wasn't until the women were well into their 70s that they received a "sorry" and some money from the government in compensation for their treatment. I told the kids, "Ok, maybe you don't love school and doing work, but at least you are with me and not in some circus freak show because we are a family with 8 kids!" (although sometimes we are treated that way!) Such a sad story for those girls. They never had friends and they never knew about the outside world. Apparently, later on the girls' parents did try to get custody, but the damage was done.
One final example - the Japanese Internment Camps. After the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, all Japanese people were treated like they had done the attack themselves, including those living in British Columbia. Of course, they hadn't, but it didn't matter. In the name of safety, the Canadian government packed them all up, took away all their property and businesses, and sent them away to internment camps. They lost everything. How was that a good idea? At least this time they didn't take just the kids. As usual, it was years and years later they said, "Oh, sorry. We shouldn't have done that." How do you ever recover from that?
My kids are in absolute shock and awe when I read these stories to them. I'm not trying to teach them that the government is bad. I'm teaching them that they often have an agenda and it isn't often a good one. Not to mention, it seemed like all the Canadian public was good with what went on, too....
Just in case my kids think that doesn't happen anymore....no, it still does. How about a current example...my dentist, for one. Last week I shared story after story of how God had done these miracles in my life, about piano teachers and groceries. I forgot to share how He had also answered a prayer about our dentist! I had asked God to show me who we should have as our new dentist after moving out this way. Seems like a strange prayer, maybe, but I wanted to make sure we were going to one who understood the dental needs and costs of a large family. I interviewed a number of people. Then, one day, at a local fair, I ran into our current dentist. He had a booth up across from where I had a booth selling crafts. I went over and chatted with him. I was pretty convinced he was our guy almost right away. When I told him I basically wanted free care, he laughed and said, "For large families I give a good discount." What? I had never heard that before. He was hired!
As we got to know him it turns out he was a believer! A solid Christian man. I also found out he was a daring believer. He had his kids in the public school system, but he wasn't loving the agenda the government had for them. He decided to take on the school board and, without getting into details for his sake, got into a legal battle in the name of his kids and his parental rights. Was I ever impressed with his nerve and his awareness that as the parent he wanted to be the one as the primary influence. The government said, "No, you're not. We want to be." He lost his battle. Now, he's in a quandary as to what to do. It just goes to show you, government thinks they know better than us as parents and if they have to intervene to prove it, they will. I never take the privilege of homeschooling lightly. I'm the primary influence right now and they don't like that.
I don't write about politics. I try to avoid it, but this week when we had finished studying all these topics, I couldn't help it. Over and over I saw the theme come up where the government had intervened to the detriment of the family. It has made me be grateful for the privilege I have to homeschool, but also how careful we have to be to protect what seems to be to be obvious....the right to be the primary influence over my children, not the government. Am I going to be one of those homeschoolers people accuse of being in a "holy huddle"? No, I don't believe in that. However, as the Maxwells put it in their book, Keeping Your Children's Hearts, I will insulate them, not to be confused with isolating them, in the name of protecting their hearts as long as I can.
Thursday, 11 January 2018
HE. IS. FOR. ME.
Two days ago I wrote a devotional for our homeschool group, always trying to encourage the moms to press on and to remember, "This I know, God is for me." I used that verse from Psalm 56 and the theme I had written about before, "A Year Without Fear". I specifically had mentioned the idea that if we are thankful, then we can just sit back and watch the big and small miracles that will unfold.
That same day I had written in this blog about groceries and my attempts for this year to buckle down on a whole new level, writing about the specific steps I'm attempting to take.
That day, after having written both posts, I wasn't expecting any miracles to happen, but happen they did.
First, I ran into my daughter at the library (it's so funny to "run" into your daughter at the library! Now that she has her own car, I don't keep track of her as much.....) She had just come from piano lessons where she still goes for a 2 1/2 hour lesson each week. She drives into see the same teacher we've had since she was 8 or 9. This teacher is not a Christian, though we've shared with her our faith when she lets us, is a vegetarian, divorced, still single, and on top of it all is very talented and kind. She seems to love our family and has always gone to extreme efforts to accommodate us, even driving our way when we had all the kids in lessons. She's also extremely educated and provides an amazing piano education for our daughter which is also why we still drive all that way back into our old town.
All that to say, when I saw my daughter, she said, "You'll never believe what I have for you...." I didn't know what she could possibly be talking about. "Five bags of groceries!" "What?!" "All vegetables!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's funny, though, my first reaction was, "Did she think we were in need? Why would she do that?" I immediately felt humbled, but then curiousity kicked in....I had to know what prompted this!
It's really funny. I don't think she even knows why she did it! I think God made her do it! She told my daughter how she normally does a big vegetable stew for herself which I guess she then uses or freezes to use throughout the month or week (not sure). In the process of cooking, she overspiced her stew somehow and had to add more water making the stew way more than she needed. But, she still had all these vegetables and for some reason didn't need them anymore....my question is, WHY did she buy so many vegetables in the first place? It just made no sense...even her explanation to my daughter made no sense. I'm thinking God told her to buy all the groceries, she just doesn't know it! However, in the process, she had all these vegetables she couldn't use and she knew they would go bad, so she said she thought of us! Five bags of fantastic, fresh vegetables...delivered on the very day I'd written about groceries and how I planned on making them stretch and stay way below budget. I would call it a miracle. Never in all the years we've known her has she done this. It was such an unusual, unexpected gift. I still marvel. The bonus is she included really nice vegetables, too, the expensive ones, like asparagus, not to mention bags and bags of carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, celery...on and on.. I am amazed. Suddenly, I'm in a quandary myself...I now have more vegetables than I know what to do with! What a great problem to have. I thank God for grocery blessings.
It's funny my next story is tied into that same piano teacher and has to to do with another piano teacher! The piano teacher my daughter uses is amazing, however, she's too amazing! She is quite costly, though worth it, so we made the hard call several years ago to stop using her for all of our kids and instead we would just spend the money on the oldest girl as she was showing the most talent. It was such a sad day for me to tell her we wouldn't be able to use her anymore for the other kids. I questioned God so much on that. I felt we would never find a replacement.
Meanwhile, God was orchestrating a new piano connection..... A long time ago, over a year ago, I met a woman through a series of connections and I had her over for a visit. Then I ran into her in a grocery store (another theme that is floating through both stories!). Something made me ask her about piano lessons and where she gets her kids taught. I was in fact advertising my daughter as a potential teacher for her kids, but it turned out she already had a teacher. I've relied on my oldest daughter for some time to teach my kids and she was and she would, but I just can't pay her what she deserves and it just wasn't fitting in her schedule if it was for free. Funny how money motivates a person to work! It was hard for me to not feel panicky that my kids weren't getting the music education that my older kids had. I really had to choose to relax. I would tell others, trying very hard to really believe it, "If God thinks my kids need a music teacher, He'll bring one." I didn't know what that would look like, but that's what I would say. Deep down, however, I was wondering if my kids would ever learn. I was happy they were teaching themselves guitar and ukelele on youtube, but I wasn't sure if you could do that with piano.
Back to the grocery store conversation....she mentioned she had a great local piano teacher and, this was the amazing thing, who only charged basically pennies a lesson (I won't say the exact amount in case she gets inundated with calls!). That's right, it's not a typo, only a few pennies a lesson. She didn't have access to piano lessons as a child due to lack of finances (she came from a large family of 9 kids!) and only got her music education once she was a mom with two kids. As a result, she doesn't want people to feel inhibited by lack of funds, but instead wants all kids to have access to a music education. But, get this, strictly for the purposes of using music for God's glory. I haven't heard a music teacher say those words before. AND, on top of all that, she lives less than 5 minutes away from us, so no, she doesn't come to my home, but when she only lives 5 minutes away, I think I can handle the commute! We start next week!
These two miracles are not the little miracles I told the homeschool moms to watch for, no, these are the BIG ones! I had no idea they were coming and just sat back in awe as they unfolded before my eyes. I had written the phrase from Psalm 56, "This I know, God is for me..." I had tried to meditate on it all that day and into the next and had told the homeschool moms to do the same. Instead of listening to the lie, "God is against me," I truly tried to fight back and remember, "No! He is FOR me!" Sometimes when I write about what I know about God, such as that phrase "This I know, God is for me....", I'm not sure what it will always look like, how that will show itself. I can never write the story myself, "How will God show me He is for me this week?" And then, things like this happen and I say to myself, "Oh...that's it...He IS for me! He really is!" Did I need to see these miracles this week to show me? No, but wow, does it ever help! I have prayed for help in grocery planning, budgeting, savings, for years. I have prayed for a piano teacher for the younger guys for years. I have worked at really trusting Him in His timing. I have tried not to worry, tried not to run in front of Him. And then this, two huge blessings on the same day of writing about God's faithfulness and how we can trust Him that He is for us. I love God's timing. I love how He hand picks specific blessings that are impossible to work out humanly speaking. They have His fingerprint all over them. I can only sit here in awe of His goodness to me and my family and thank Him for these tangible ways He shows me HE. IS. FOR. ME.
That same day I had written in this blog about groceries and my attempts for this year to buckle down on a whole new level, writing about the specific steps I'm attempting to take.
That day, after having written both posts, I wasn't expecting any miracles to happen, but happen they did.
First, I ran into my daughter at the library (it's so funny to "run" into your daughter at the library! Now that she has her own car, I don't keep track of her as much.....) She had just come from piano lessons where she still goes for a 2 1/2 hour lesson each week. She drives into see the same teacher we've had since she was 8 or 9. This teacher is not a Christian, though we've shared with her our faith when she lets us, is a vegetarian, divorced, still single, and on top of it all is very talented and kind. She seems to love our family and has always gone to extreme efforts to accommodate us, even driving our way when we had all the kids in lessons. She's also extremely educated and provides an amazing piano education for our daughter which is also why we still drive all that way back into our old town.
All that to say, when I saw my daughter, she said, "You'll never believe what I have for you...." I didn't know what she could possibly be talking about. "Five bags of groceries!" "What?!" "All vegetables!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's funny, though, my first reaction was, "Did she think we were in need? Why would she do that?" I immediately felt humbled, but then curiousity kicked in....I had to know what prompted this!
It's really funny. I don't think she even knows why she did it! I think God made her do it! She told my daughter how she normally does a big vegetable stew for herself which I guess she then uses or freezes to use throughout the month or week (not sure). In the process of cooking, she overspiced her stew somehow and had to add more water making the stew way more than she needed. But, she still had all these vegetables and for some reason didn't need them anymore....my question is, WHY did she buy so many vegetables in the first place? It just made no sense...even her explanation to my daughter made no sense. I'm thinking God told her to buy all the groceries, she just doesn't know it! However, in the process, she had all these vegetables she couldn't use and she knew they would go bad, so she said she thought of us! Five bags of fantastic, fresh vegetables...delivered on the very day I'd written about groceries and how I planned on making them stretch and stay way below budget. I would call it a miracle. Never in all the years we've known her has she done this. It was such an unusual, unexpected gift. I still marvel. The bonus is she included really nice vegetables, too, the expensive ones, like asparagus, not to mention bags and bags of carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, onions, garlic, celery...on and on.. I am amazed. Suddenly, I'm in a quandary myself...I now have more vegetables than I know what to do with! What a great problem to have. I thank God for grocery blessings.
It's funny my next story is tied into that same piano teacher and has to to do with another piano teacher! The piano teacher my daughter uses is amazing, however, she's too amazing! She is quite costly, though worth it, so we made the hard call several years ago to stop using her for all of our kids and instead we would just spend the money on the oldest girl as she was showing the most talent. It was such a sad day for me to tell her we wouldn't be able to use her anymore for the other kids. I questioned God so much on that. I felt we would never find a replacement.
Meanwhile, God was orchestrating a new piano connection..... A long time ago, over a year ago, I met a woman through a series of connections and I had her over for a visit. Then I ran into her in a grocery store (another theme that is floating through both stories!). Something made me ask her about piano lessons and where she gets her kids taught. I was in fact advertising my daughter as a potential teacher for her kids, but it turned out she already had a teacher. I've relied on my oldest daughter for some time to teach my kids and she was and she would, but I just can't pay her what she deserves and it just wasn't fitting in her schedule if it was for free. Funny how money motivates a person to work! It was hard for me to not feel panicky that my kids weren't getting the music education that my older kids had. I really had to choose to relax. I would tell others, trying very hard to really believe it, "If God thinks my kids need a music teacher, He'll bring one." I didn't know what that would look like, but that's what I would say. Deep down, however, I was wondering if my kids would ever learn. I was happy they were teaching themselves guitar and ukelele on youtube, but I wasn't sure if you could do that with piano.
Back to the grocery store conversation....she mentioned she had a great local piano teacher and, this was the amazing thing, who only charged basically pennies a lesson (I won't say the exact amount in case she gets inundated with calls!). That's right, it's not a typo, only a few pennies a lesson. She didn't have access to piano lessons as a child due to lack of finances (she came from a large family of 9 kids!) and only got her music education once she was a mom with two kids. As a result, she doesn't want people to feel inhibited by lack of funds, but instead wants all kids to have access to a music education. But, get this, strictly for the purposes of using music for God's glory. I haven't heard a music teacher say those words before. AND, on top of all that, she lives less than 5 minutes away from us, so no, she doesn't come to my home, but when she only lives 5 minutes away, I think I can handle the commute! We start next week!
These two miracles are not the little miracles I told the homeschool moms to watch for, no, these are the BIG ones! I had no idea they were coming and just sat back in awe as they unfolded before my eyes. I had written the phrase from Psalm 56, "This I know, God is for me..." I had tried to meditate on it all that day and into the next and had told the homeschool moms to do the same. Instead of listening to the lie, "God is against me," I truly tried to fight back and remember, "No! He is FOR me!" Sometimes when I write about what I know about God, such as that phrase "This I know, God is for me....", I'm not sure what it will always look like, how that will show itself. I can never write the story myself, "How will God show me He is for me this week?" And then, things like this happen and I say to myself, "Oh...that's it...He IS for me! He really is!" Did I need to see these miracles this week to show me? No, but wow, does it ever help! I have prayed for help in grocery planning, budgeting, savings, for years. I have prayed for a piano teacher for the younger guys for years. I have worked at really trusting Him in His timing. I have tried not to worry, tried not to run in front of Him. And then this, two huge blessings on the same day of writing about God's faithfulness and how we can trust Him that He is for us. I love God's timing. I love how He hand picks specific blessings that are impossible to work out humanly speaking. They have His fingerprint all over them. I can only sit here in awe of His goodness to me and my family and thank Him for these tangible ways He shows me HE. IS. FOR. ME.
Tuesday, 9 January 2018
My Grocery Goals....
A new year brings resolutions, or at least a shot at resolutions. I actually love new beginnings, even if it is a new week, month or year. I always lose steam on resolutions as the year goes on, so it is a good reminder to restart, in lots of different areas.
For one, keeping track of my spending and making super serious goals, particularly about groceries. I was doing very well at going through all the flyers, making lists based on that, but sometimes, I end up just going to the store and buying what is on sale, without looking through all the ads and price matching. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a book I had read through a while ago about cutting your grocery bill in half. A few pages in I was reinspired to go at it again full force.
The first list of the year, I sat down for a super long time, easily over an hour or more, just making a meal plan, going through all the flyers, making the list, etc. I then grabbed one of the kids, and off we went. The idea was to see how cheap I could shop and make delicious, healthy meals, for just two weeks, possibly three, without going back to the store. I would have shopped for a month, but it would have meant 4 carts. I left with two. Not to mention I don't have the space in my fridge for a month's worth.
I came home and added up all my savings that day and it amounted to over $80! A great reminder to persevere in this area as food is one of our biggest expenses. I also sat down with all the kids and told them my financial goals for our family, particularly in the areas I control, food, clothes, restaurants, entertainment, etc. I had already talked this all out with RM, it was just time to give the kids the update and make sure they were on board.
We talked about everything from hot water usage, to keeping lights off, to trying to go without "new" clothes (we already do that, but just a reminder), etc. They seemed to be on board.
We are now into the second week of planned meals and haven't gone to the grocery yet, though I will have to go for milk and eggs this week. I don't have room in our fridge for all the eggs and milk we go through! We've eaten meatless (used beans) here and there and no one has complained. I also purchased tons of clearance vegetables and, guess what, they taste the same as expensive vegetables. I bought bulk popping corn and that is our main snack during the school day as well as apples and cheese. Nothing fancy.
I'm also tracking, partly for curiousity's sake as well as for purchasing power, how much we go through of certain items. For example, if we go through a certain number of paper products each month, or even each year, and I see a big sale, I will try to purchase what I need for the whole month or whole year, or even 6 months, in order to save even more over the long run. These are all things I've done in the past, but January is a great time to buckle down and see if I can do this over the long run. Ready for this, I'm using pen and paper, not even a computer. I rarely have access to one now that the kids are doing a lot of school on-line. So I'm completely "old school" and I love it. Although, I should mention that I use an app on my phone to also keep track of the spending, so I have both going on.
I'm keeping everyone up-to-date on how much we are spending each week, making them guess, and then showing them how "off" they are. It is good for them to know where all the money goes. I want them to be prepared for when they leave home one day.
I wish someone would come in each day and give me a pep talk. I give them to my kids, who will give them to me? So because that doesn't happen, I have to source out my own pep talks through books. I don't search the internet as it takes me too long. The book on grocery bill savings as well as another one I have called Miserly Moms have been a great encouragement to me. They've been on my shelf forever. I pick them up and the authors tell me what I need to hear each year. There's my pep talk! I almost feel like I'm accountable to them. What if they showed up at my house and asked me about my budget? So I act like they will.
I'm super excited to see how things go even just for January. If I manage to cut our grocery bill in half, or even by just a little, it'll go a long way as our family is getting super expensive with the new school needs each of the older children have. A year without fear and hopefully more money in the bank!
For one, keeping track of my spending and making super serious goals, particularly about groceries. I was doing very well at going through all the flyers, making lists based on that, but sometimes, I end up just going to the store and buying what is on sale, without looking through all the ads and price matching. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a book I had read through a while ago about cutting your grocery bill in half. A few pages in I was reinspired to go at it again full force.
The first list of the year, I sat down for a super long time, easily over an hour or more, just making a meal plan, going through all the flyers, making the list, etc. I then grabbed one of the kids, and off we went. The idea was to see how cheap I could shop and make delicious, healthy meals, for just two weeks, possibly three, without going back to the store. I would have shopped for a month, but it would have meant 4 carts. I left with two. Not to mention I don't have the space in my fridge for a month's worth.
I came home and added up all my savings that day and it amounted to over $80! A great reminder to persevere in this area as food is one of our biggest expenses. I also sat down with all the kids and told them my financial goals for our family, particularly in the areas I control, food, clothes, restaurants, entertainment, etc. I had already talked this all out with RM, it was just time to give the kids the update and make sure they were on board.
We talked about everything from hot water usage, to keeping lights off, to trying to go without "new" clothes (we already do that, but just a reminder), etc. They seemed to be on board.
We are now into the second week of planned meals and haven't gone to the grocery yet, though I will have to go for milk and eggs this week. I don't have room in our fridge for all the eggs and milk we go through! We've eaten meatless (used beans) here and there and no one has complained. I also purchased tons of clearance vegetables and, guess what, they taste the same as expensive vegetables. I bought bulk popping corn and that is our main snack during the school day as well as apples and cheese. Nothing fancy.
I'm also tracking, partly for curiousity's sake as well as for purchasing power, how much we go through of certain items. For example, if we go through a certain number of paper products each month, or even each year, and I see a big sale, I will try to purchase what I need for the whole month or whole year, or even 6 months, in order to save even more over the long run. These are all things I've done in the past, but January is a great time to buckle down and see if I can do this over the long run. Ready for this, I'm using pen and paper, not even a computer. I rarely have access to one now that the kids are doing a lot of school on-line. So I'm completely "old school" and I love it. Although, I should mention that I use an app on my phone to also keep track of the spending, so I have both going on.
I'm keeping everyone up-to-date on how much we are spending each week, making them guess, and then showing them how "off" they are. It is good for them to know where all the money goes. I want them to be prepared for when they leave home one day.
I wish someone would come in each day and give me a pep talk. I give them to my kids, who will give them to me? So because that doesn't happen, I have to source out my own pep talks through books. I don't search the internet as it takes me too long. The book on grocery bill savings as well as another one I have called Miserly Moms have been a great encouragement to me. They've been on my shelf forever. I pick them up and the authors tell me what I need to hear each year. There's my pep talk! I almost feel like I'm accountable to them. What if they showed up at my house and asked me about my budget? So I act like they will.
I'm super excited to see how things go even just for January. If I manage to cut our grocery bill in half, or even by just a little, it'll go a long way as our family is getting super expensive with the new school needs each of the older children have. A year without fear and hopefully more money in the bank!
Monday, 8 January 2018
2018....A Year Without Fear
It's 2018! I stopped writing a few weeks ago just to take a break, but I wrote so many blogs in my head as so much went on...but first, I must start with a funny, yet awful, story.....
A couple of weeks ago, we noticed an awful smell after I had cooked some squash. I thought maybe the squash was bad as I had stored it over the Fall. We threw it out, but then the next night, I noticed the same smell, so I checked the oven to see if something had dropped to the bottom and was burning as I cooked. Nothing. Now, a mystery.
This went on for a few days. We realized something must be behind the oven. It was clearly being "cooked" every time we turned the oven on as that was the only time we smelled the awful smell. Please, let it just be a mouse.....
The worse thing about having my husband at work away from home now is that I have to deal with all this kind of stuff. Before I could pass it off to him! But, oh well. I grabbed my two sons. They moved the oven away from the wall and thankfully nothing, but then why the smell?
That's when I kicked in my smelling superpowers (I actually have an incredibly good sense of smell that has come in handy at times like these!). I was like a german shepherd, on my knees, smelling everywhere. My nose and I finally landed back at the oven itself. Oh no...my worst fears. Something was inside the oven itself....between the back cover and the electronics....where was my husband????
I told my son to take off all the bolts, which he so kindly did, and then, to my shock, awe, and disgust, there it was....a dead rat....I nearly threw up. We all did. I videotaped the reveal to show my husband what I went through...
Then, everyone scattered! No one wanted to deal with the rat! I waited and waited, but no one came back. "Fine," I thought...."I can do this." So I covered my hands with plastic bags and attempted to pick up the rat by the tail. As I did this, I pulled ever so slightly, but it was stuck, so I gave it another tug and....wait for it...the tail came off in my hand!!! I screamedVERY loudly. People showed back up! Funny how it takes mom screaming for people to come back....
I wasn't going near that thing again. My son/rescue hero came and got the rat and left me to deal with the disgusting mess it left behind....who knows how it got up there. We think it may have set off a trap and then thought it was crawling to safety? All I know is it was a low moment in my farm life. I was pretty much prepared to go back to the city after that. The ONLY positive in this whole matter was that I cleaned under my oven for the first time in a long time and even behind the electronic cover. May I never have to deal with that again.
That week we had friends over for dinner and I shared the whole rat story. They, too, had moved from the city to the country, had renovated an old farm house, raised animals, had kids...we had tons in common. They said, "You know we can only talk like this to one another....we're the only ones who truly understand!"
Anyway, I have moved on, a stronger woman, I'm sure. My kids think we might get the plague, and to be honest, we might, but what can you do?!
Our New Year's this year was a quiet one at home, which I just loved. There was no way we could have anyone over. Starting the week of Christmas, we had moved all the furniture from the other side of the family room to the side RM had leveled earlier and he was able to finish leveling the entire family room which was no small feat. In the process our house was literally upside down. We just needed the week following for recovery. We won't do any more renovations until it warms up again as the next set of renos involves ripping off more drywall and it has been so cold there's no way we could handle that amount of heat leaving the house.
I heard a pastor say, upon reflecting on 2017, don't look back and see what has happened, but look back and see what God has done, where was God involved? That New Year's Eve, we sat around as a family and did just that. It was great to reflect and see how God had been with our family through so many situations from my son's schooling and certain fears he had to deal with as a new university student, to my daughter acquiring multiple jobs so she could get a car, to work supplied to my husband over and over, to health for all of us....so many answers to prayer. God was certainly at work.
That last Sunday of 2017 at church, the pastor spoke on Psalm 56. The title of his sermon was "A Year Without Fear". How did he know that is exactly what I needed to hear that day? Though I have received so many victories in this area, I know Satan would like me to fail and be fearful still and so he sends regular tests it seems. I think I have a new theme verse for the year based on this Psalm, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, who word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
That's it! What can man do to me? Fear doesn't help make my situations go away. So why waste my energy being fearful? The psalm acknowledges that fear is a reality, "when I am afraid"...so there will be times when we are fearful, but the pattern is when we experience fear, which we will, we do what David did and trust God, His Word, His plans for us. That is my prayer for 2018, that it will be a year, not necessarily without fear, as fear will come, but that I will turn to God and His Word and trust.......
A couple of weeks ago, we noticed an awful smell after I had cooked some squash. I thought maybe the squash was bad as I had stored it over the Fall. We threw it out, but then the next night, I noticed the same smell, so I checked the oven to see if something had dropped to the bottom and was burning as I cooked. Nothing. Now, a mystery.
This went on for a few days. We realized something must be behind the oven. It was clearly being "cooked" every time we turned the oven on as that was the only time we smelled the awful smell. Please, let it just be a mouse.....
The worse thing about having my husband at work away from home now is that I have to deal with all this kind of stuff. Before I could pass it off to him! But, oh well. I grabbed my two sons. They moved the oven away from the wall and thankfully nothing, but then why the smell?
That's when I kicked in my smelling superpowers (I actually have an incredibly good sense of smell that has come in handy at times like these!). I was like a german shepherd, on my knees, smelling everywhere. My nose and I finally landed back at the oven itself. Oh no...my worst fears. Something was inside the oven itself....between the back cover and the electronics....where was my husband????
I told my son to take off all the bolts, which he so kindly did, and then, to my shock, awe, and disgust, there it was....a dead rat....I nearly threw up. We all did. I videotaped the reveal to show my husband what I went through...
Then, everyone scattered! No one wanted to deal with the rat! I waited and waited, but no one came back. "Fine," I thought...."I can do this." So I covered my hands with plastic bags and attempted to pick up the rat by the tail. As I did this, I pulled ever so slightly, but it was stuck, so I gave it another tug and....wait for it...the tail came off in my hand!!! I screamedVERY loudly. People showed back up! Funny how it takes mom screaming for people to come back....
I wasn't going near that thing again. My son/rescue hero came and got the rat and left me to deal with the disgusting mess it left behind....who knows how it got up there. We think it may have set off a trap and then thought it was crawling to safety? All I know is it was a low moment in my farm life. I was pretty much prepared to go back to the city after that. The ONLY positive in this whole matter was that I cleaned under my oven for the first time in a long time and even behind the electronic cover. May I never have to deal with that again.
That week we had friends over for dinner and I shared the whole rat story. They, too, had moved from the city to the country, had renovated an old farm house, raised animals, had kids...we had tons in common. They said, "You know we can only talk like this to one another....we're the only ones who truly understand!"
Anyway, I have moved on, a stronger woman, I'm sure. My kids think we might get the plague, and to be honest, we might, but what can you do?!
Our New Year's this year was a quiet one at home, which I just loved. There was no way we could have anyone over. Starting the week of Christmas, we had moved all the furniture from the other side of the family room to the side RM had leveled earlier and he was able to finish leveling the entire family room which was no small feat. In the process our house was literally upside down. We just needed the week following for recovery. We won't do any more renovations until it warms up again as the next set of renos involves ripping off more drywall and it has been so cold there's no way we could handle that amount of heat leaving the house.
I heard a pastor say, upon reflecting on 2017, don't look back and see what has happened, but look back and see what God has done, where was God involved? That New Year's Eve, we sat around as a family and did just that. It was great to reflect and see how God had been with our family through so many situations from my son's schooling and certain fears he had to deal with as a new university student, to my daughter acquiring multiple jobs so she could get a car, to work supplied to my husband over and over, to health for all of us....so many answers to prayer. God was certainly at work.
That last Sunday of 2017 at church, the pastor spoke on Psalm 56. The title of his sermon was "A Year Without Fear". How did he know that is exactly what I needed to hear that day? Though I have received so many victories in this area, I know Satan would like me to fail and be fearful still and so he sends regular tests it seems. I think I have a new theme verse for the year based on this Psalm, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, who word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
That's it! What can man do to me? Fear doesn't help make my situations go away. So why waste my energy being fearful? The psalm acknowledges that fear is a reality, "when I am afraid"...so there will be times when we are fearful, but the pattern is when we experience fear, which we will, we do what David did and trust God, His Word, His plans for us. That is my prayer for 2018, that it will be a year, not necessarily without fear, as fear will come, but that I will turn to God and His Word and trust.......
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